SES NY Session: B2B SEO Tactics

B2B Search sessions (both organic and paid) can be few and far between, so any time it exists I’m sure to plant myself in the front row.Â The B2B Tactics session was moderated by Jeffrey Rohrs, VP, Agency & Search Marketing, ExactTarget

It is important to reach the searcher early in the buying cycle to establish credibility and become a source of information.

This is an important consideration in organic search as well, as you research and define target keyword phrases. Don’t miss out on the chance to educate the searcher about the features/benefits of what you offer.

On the flip side, don’t miss out on the searcher who knows what they want and wants to buy it now.

Doing so, will mean that your quality score is going to take a hit due to less clicks but it is an approach worth testing. A relevant inquiry is always worth more.

4. Create landing pages and microsites

Landing pages should be specific to the ad copy to increase inquiries and decrease the abandonment rate.

Microsites are useful for specific industries/products. I find microsites to be a good option, especially for enterprises, where the content for a marketing segment is often distributed across a site and doesn’t speak to the offerings as a whole.

In addition, microsites allow for a different, and more engaging, voice than is commonly used on corporate websites.

5. Test pages continuously

Patricia noted that for one of her campaigns, moving the form to an internal page (not the landing page) more than doubled the conversion rates.

This is something to test, particularly in industries that don’t respond well to ‘being sold to’.

This really goes against everything I know as a marketer, but I have found it to be true as well. For one of my clients where email marketing is part of the mix, we receive more responses from announcement-only email campaigns, where readers are not directed to a form.

6. Offer more than one call to action
Back to testing, it’s important to offer more than one call to action.
Not everyone is ready to download a free trial, so don’t alienate them by offering nothing that relates to where they are in the buying cycle.

Not everyone is ready to download software so offer them a whitepaper as well.

Simplify, get the critical information, and obtain the rest through subsequent follow ups.

8. Implement a lead nurturing process
Work to define the following the differences between a contact, an inquiry, a prospect and a lead.

They are all different depending on the company and it’s important that everyone is on the same page. As well, be sure to assign the appropriate sales person to the correct type of lead.

When doing this, be sure that the leads that fall somewhere between ‘hot’ and ‘not’ don’t fall through the cracks. This happens and it’s a major area of opportunity in which you can help yourself/clients be more effective.